Fathom Online: Search Engine Marketing Data Analysis, Keyword Prices

For example, he notes that keyword costs in the mortgage financing category have been building steadily since Fathom launched the index in September, rising 56 percent from $3.17 in September 2004 to $4.93 in January. McMahon says it is more than coincidence that this corresponds to news speculating that mortgage financing rates will soon spike.

"We are watching the 30-year fixed rate very closely," he says. "The implicit assumption is that if people are going to refinance, they're going to do it now, and that's why marketers are bidding up and up and up on mortgage keywords. We do know that external factors affect search conversion rates, which then in turn affect the costs people will pay for keywords."

McMahon says that after five months it's still too soon to determine whether there are normal cyclical or seasonal patterns to keyword demand, but speculates that the industry will likely see some spikes in some categories around key holidays coming up, including Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.

Fathom Online Keyword Price Index (KPI)

09/04 10/04 11/04 12/04 01/05
Automotive $1.54 $1.39 $1.35 $1.39 $1.34
Retail $0.32 $0.48 $0.60 $0.48 $0.52
Consumer Services $0.54 $0.96 $1.27 $0.96 $1.29
Travel/Hospitality $0.64 $0.85 $0.90 $0.85 $0.88
Finance/Investing $1.76 $1.60 $1.70 $1.60 $1.73
Finance/Mortgage $3.17 $4.31 $4.74 $4.31 $4.93
Telecommunications/Broadband $1.89 $1.78 $1.59 $1.78 $1.67
Telecommunications/Wireless $1.09 $1.06 $1.09 $1.06 $0.79

Overall Average $1.37 $1.55 $1.66 $1.55 $1.64